Surprise! Juul publishes a paper concluding that e-cigs save lives

At a time that the FDA is deciding whether to authorize continued sale of Juul e-cigs a group of Juul scientists have published “Modeling the population health impact of E.N.D.S in the U.S.” that concludes that “the availability of ENDS [electronic nicotine delivery systems, which includes e-cigs] is projected to reduce smoking and prevent 2.5Continue reading “Surprise! Juul publishes a paper concluding that e-cigs save lives”

Why FDA’s reduced exposure marketing order for IQOS is not a reliable global model

There are two separate decisions that the FDA makes about new products: (1) whether to authorize the sale of the product, and, if they allow sale of a product, (2) whether to allow a company to make reduced exposure or reduced risk claims about the product. To further confuse the situation, the separate decisions aboutContinue reading “Why FDA’s reduced exposure marketing order for IQOS is not a reliable global model”

Many industries share “spin” strategies to undermine science they don’t like

We have known for a long time that the tobacco companies have developed sophisticated strategies to “create doubt” and attack scientific results that threaten their profits. Similar strategies have been identified for other industries. Now Rebecca Goldberg and Laura Vandenberg have published “The science of spin: targeted strategies to manufacture doubt with detrimental effects onContinue reading “Many industries share “spin” strategies to undermine science they don’t like”

FDA should take Puff Bar at its word that it is not a tobacco product … and ban them as illegal drug delivery devices

The 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act gave the FDA jurisdiction to regulate tobacco products, defined as products “made or derived from tobacco.” This means that any product that includes nicotine derived from tobacco is subject to FDA jurisdiction. There has been discussion in academic circles about nicotine delivery products being made fromContinue reading “FDA should take Puff Bar at its word that it is not a tobacco product … and ban them as illegal drug delivery devices”

Lessons for today from tobacco industry efforts to open the Thai market in the 1980s

Kade Patanavanich and I recently published “Successful countering of tobacco industry efforts to overturn Thailand’s ENDS ban” that documented recent efforts by Philip Morris and other pro-tobacco interests to open the Thai market to electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), which under Thai law includes both liquid e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products like PM’s IQOS. NowContinue reading “Lessons for today from tobacco industry efforts to open the Thai market in the 1980s”

How health groups defeated Juul’s effort to rewrite San Francisco’s e-cigarette regulations

The tobacco companies have been turning to the initiative and referendum process to undo California tobacco control laws and regulations. (The most recent example is the industry’s successful forcing of a referendum on SB 793, the ban on flavored tobacco products the legislature passed last summer.) In 2019 Juul, makers of the wildly popular e-cigaretteContinue reading “How health groups defeated Juul’s effort to rewrite San Francisco’s e-cigarette regulations”

Check out this Philip Morris music video on cigarette inventory management

A colleague’s son sent along this 1987 music video prepared to educate merchants on how to do inventory management to maximize profits. Who ever knew inventory management could be so much fun? You can search for previously secret tobacco industry documents related to this video as well as Philip Morris’ promotional activities here in theContinue reading “Check out this Philip Morris music video on cigarette inventory management”

Lawsuit provides inside view of Foundation for a Smoke-Free World

The allegations in a wrongful termination lawsuit filed Lourdes Liz, the former Director of Digital and Social Media at the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World, provides specifics on how FSFW functions as an arm of Philip Morris International (sole funder of FSFW) and Alria, parent of Philip Morris Tobacco. Broadly, she alleges that PMI usesContinue reading “Lawsuit provides inside view of Foundation for a Smoke-Free World”

Register for UCSF “It’s about a Billion Lives” symposium on Jan 29, 2021

Registration is now open for UCSF’s annual “It’s About a Billion Lives” Symposium will be held Friday January 29, 2021 from 8:00am–12:30pm Pacific Time by Zoom webinar.  In addition to the oral presentations, there will be posters from other UCSF research. KEYNOTE: “Half a century later it is still about social acceptability,” Stanton A. Glantz,Continue reading “Register for UCSF “It’s about a Billion Lives” symposium on Jan 29, 2021″